Once again, I am very thankful to everyone who has reviewed and like the story! I will keep doing my best to make great chapters and to update on a regular basis.
"Okay, nope. Nope, nope, nope. Nuh-uh, not a chance. You pop in here- actually more like walk out of an abyssal vortex, and expect us to believe you're from the future, sent back in time to stop me from dying?" Peter questioned, using his hands to make different gestures like one would when playing charades.
1 Hour Earlier
"May I have an explanation on what the sam hell is going on here?" past Steve asked, stepping out of the elevator.
Future Steve nodded at the other time travelers and replied. "I think you all better sit down. We have a lot to tell you."
The younger versions of the Avenger's looked at each other, unsure of what to do when Peter got up from the counter and plopped down in a nearby chair.
"What?" he said when he noticed the looks he was receiving from his version of the team. "They said to sit down." he added. The past versions followed his example and also took their own respective spots after sighing. The future group sat down as well.
"Alright," future Tony started, "Everything we're about to tell you is going to be difficult to process, but believe us, it's all true." The younger Natasha opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by her older self.
"Yes, we really are you. We're just different versions of you all. Future versions to be exact." she answered.
The Tony from the past was stroking his stubble, no doubt analyzing what future Natasha had said. You could practically hear the gears turning in his head. Past Bruce was looking towards the ground when he returned his gaze to the futuristic arrivals in the room.
"Excuse me, but how far in the future are you talking about? I mean, you don't look that much older than us." he stated.
"Three years." Future Steve replied quickly.
"Uh-huh, and so um, what are you guys, I mean us, er- we? Damn it! Why are you here?" past Clint, who was still freaking out, asked, confused.
The younger Avengers watched as their future selves' breaths hitched. Steve paused for a while, the grief he had gone through after Peter's death resurfacing briefly. He composed himself not long after.
"For us," he said gesturing to the others beside him, "three years ago is when Peter was killed by remnants of H.Y.D.R.A." There were collective gasps from the the past selves of the Avengers and while they were doing that, they hadn't noticed their youngest hero's face pale to the point of looking alabaster. Peter's complexion paled considerably but his eyes never left those of the travelers from the future.
"H-how did I die? When?" Peter stuttered as he tried to remain calm but ultimately failed.
"We had all finished a mission, you too Pete." future Clint began. "It was a successful attack against some H.Y.D.R.A bases and afterwards we went out to celebrate. But, because it was at a bar, you couldn't come so we asked if you would watch the Tower for us. What we didn't know was that there were a couple stragglers that we had missed. They made their way to the Tower seeking revenge and only found Peter. They figured the best way to get back at us was to take out what held dearest; you."
"Will this happen? I mean it obviously happened first to have you come back to the past but if you weren't here now it could be catastrophic and if you had come back the first time only to see yourselves it could have also caused a paradox leaving residual effect after you had left and-" the past Bruce had interjected, going full on nerd.
"Slow down green bean." future Tony stopped him before he could go on further. "We were sent back exactly two weeks before the incident happened so we could inform you all and create a course of action."
While the younger Avengers took the time to let everything they've heard sink in, Peter's face was a look of confusion. After several minutes of processing the information he'd been given, he snapped his head upward.
"You said you were sent here. Who sent you?" Peter asked the older group, looking each of them in the eyes.
"Death." future Thor spoke up from the back. It was the first time he had spoken since he and the others had arrived.
"Not that I don't think that's awesome or anything but why do you seem so agitated by him? Wait Death is a he right?" Peter asked curiously.
*"Death in my culture is a plane of existence not a person, son of Parker. This Death steals away the jobs of the Valkyries. To me he is a threat to my Lord father who presides over Valhalla, the hall of the slain." he finished.
"Riiiiiiiight, so!" Peter exclaimed, trying to brighten the tense mood. "I still can't quite believe what you said has happened. I mean, I get what you said completely, but...I don't know, I just..can't really say that I want to believe it or admit that it could be true. Ya know? Like, I feel that if I tell myself that what's happened, will happen, then it makes it seem that no matter the outcome, I'll still die." Peter slumped in his chair. The others hadn't even thought of what he was feeling while they all listened to their future selves' story. Right now, Peter was feeling very overwhelmed. He had just learned that he had died-no will die? How is someone supposed to cope with that? He started to panic. His breathing came out in short breaths. He was hyperventilating.
"Relax, son. We're not gonna let you die. We swear we do everything in our power to stop that from happening." past Steve put a hand on Peter's shoulder to help console him. "Right?" he said, glancing over at his team's future counterparts. They all nodded.
"Steve's right, Peter." future Bruce added. "That's the reason we came back in the first place."
This reassured Peter somewhat and he had calmed down considerably.
"Not to be a buzz kill but how exactly are we going to stop Peter from getting killed. I mean, I know that we can fight off some H.Y.D.R.A goons and shit but, what I'm saying is that isn't there some fate rule of something? How do we go against fate and stop Peter from dying if it was his destiny to do so." past Clint said which made the already grim atmosphere even darker.
"Because there's no fate to it. Peter wasn't supposed to die that night. Death told us that H.Y.D.R.A developed some kind of weapon or had some sort of help that was able to cheat his book." future Natasha replied, glaring at the younger version of her fellow S.H.I.E.L.D agent.
"Wait, Death has a book? What is it? Some list of people that tells when and how they die?" younger Tony scoffed.
"That's what I said! At least I know what I'm talking about, past or future." future Tony said as he winked at his past self, congratulating him.
"Anyway, we know that H.Y.D.R.A had to have help in order to cheat Death's book. If we know what kind of help exactly then we could take it and H.Y.D.R.A out of the picture. Sadly we don't know what kind of help we're looking for so we're back to square one." future Steve said solemnly.
"I know of a sorcerer who might have allied themselves with the H.Y.D.R.A and who would be willing to see any of us dead." future Thor said. There was a pause and then he and his past self continued in unison. "Lok."
"Of course! How could we have forgotten about him!?" Peter shot up out of his seat and mentally slapped himself for being so stupid. Loki had always had it out for them and if he allied himself with another group who also had it out for us, that'd make a pretty destructive dynamic duo.
"So if Loki had been aiding H.Y.D.R.A to get back at us then why hasn't he done something in the three years since Peter's death?" future Clint asked no one in particular.
"If I had to guess, it'd be because to him, we;d already suffered enough. He killed Peter, and in a way, that killed us too. We were never the same after. Like we had all lost a piece of us." future Bruce answered, sounding more sentimental than he meant to. Peter looked at him with glazed eyes. He was happy to hear that he meant so much to the team. He always knew that he did, just, hearing it personally, made him very happy.
"Alright then, we know who instigated the attack, but how do we find bastard?" past Clint asked.
"Maybe we can be of some help?" a familiar voice rang through the air causing both groups, past and future, to whip their heads to the source. Exiting the elevator was Director Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D with agent Coulson and Hill on either side of him. "We detected an unknown spike in energy here and when we tried to contact you, you didn't pick up." agent Coulson continued.
"J.A.R.V.I.S! Why didn't you say anything when they entered?" past Tony yelled at his A.I.
"Because Sir, I was not able to. The energy spike from the vortex that brought your future counterparts here, released an electromagnetic pulse signal that destroyed the incoming signals' circuitry." the British A.I replied back.
"Wait, so S.H.I.E.L.D is able to track a vortex created by Death? Why is that even possible?!" Peter exclaimed.
"What is this about 'Death' and somebody better give me a good explanation on why the hell there are duplicates of you guys or else." Fury stated, glaring at every occupant in the room.
"Well here we go again." Peter sighed, facepalming himself at the perfect timing that everyone had today.
*A/N: There really is no actual god of death in Norse mythology (I did my research). Odin presides over Valhalla, while Freyja rules Fólkvangr and they each choose half of the souls who die in battle to spend their afterlife in each of the gods' respective domains. Hel, daughter of Loki, is the queen of Helheim and while she is technically a goddess of death, she only became queen after she was banished there. The Aesir - the best known gods and goddesses; Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Loki, Baldur, Heimdall, Idun, and Bragi - feared the power that Loki's children could possibly attain and so they bound Fenrir, cast Jormungand into the sea and banished Hel into the underworld where she took the throne and Odin gave her power over all 9 of the worlds.
-Also, I know that the Marvel representation of Hel is actually Hela (just google her and Marvel together) but I decided to go with the legitimate Norse legend for this story!
